One Week
by badwolf-27
Summary: After Cobb and Saito fail to wake up, Ariadne and Arthur are required to stay in the city for one week incase of further questioning, is it possible to fall in love in just one week? Crap summary, AxA, T because I can.
1. Chapter 1

My goodness, I really shouldn't be starting a new fiction (I'm having trouble just handling one multi-chapter fiction on top of school work) but, AxA is just too cute and so I couldn't resist. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

* * *

Arthur P.O.V

Arthur sighed and readjusted his tie out of habit. He glanced around at the confusion of the airport, the mass amounts of conversation in the large room was beginning to give him a headache and for the second time in the last five minutes, he counted the amount of people in front of him, who were also waiting to get their passports stamped.

6

The same amount as the last time he had checked. It seemed that the young man working at the booth closest to Arthur's line was new to the job. He wasn't coping particularly well with the rush of people, fresh off the latest flights.

Arthur sighed again and, out of curiosity (or was that boredom?), turned around to see how long the cue was behind him.

It was, in one word, long.

But that wasn't what surprised Arthur. What surprised him was that right behind him stood the young architect from their team, Ariadne.

For a moment Arthur bristled with annoyance. Yes, he understood that Ariadne was new to this profession, but surly after what happened to Cobb and Saito on the plane, she had enough common sense not to follow him around the place like a confused puppy.

But it was only for a moment, for then Arthur noticed Ariadne's posture and overall look. She hadn't even noticed him because she was looking to the ground with one hand clutching her forehead and the other arm was heavily leaning against the tall handle of her carry-on roller suitcase. She looked pale, well more that usual.

A hint of concern entered Arthur's thoughts. If Ariadne wasn't well, then perhaps she wasn't thinking about things like 'safe distances from other team members' and such. _Could be dangerous_, he thought.

He pondered as to why she would be feeling so unwell and arrived to the conclusion that it must have been Yusuf's sedation dosage. They hadn't had time to test an appropriate amount for Ariadne, because her seat had been booked at the last minute. Yusuf had simply lowered the amount from Fischer's and given that to Ariadne.

Arthur had argued that this was still too much, as Ariadne was quite petite. But Cobb agreed with Yusuf, in the idea that it was better to give her too much than too little. After all who knows what could have happened if she, the architect, had woken early? The whole dream may have collapsed.

Arthur decided he would have to keep an eye on her, as risky as it was, it would do no good to their situation if another team member was taken off to hospital.

He turned back around to see that while he had been stuck in thought, the line had moved and now there was only one person in front of him. Arthur moved forward and frowned at the lengthy lag between Ariadne noticing that there was a gap in front of her, and the time it took her to move towards him.

The elderly woman in front of Arthur was called to the desk of a middle aged man, while he was called to the desk of a grumpy looking man. Arthur presented his passport and the man frowned when he entered in Arthur's details into the system.

Arthur's heartbeat increased, but he kept a calm face.

"You from first class?" the man asked him in a gruff voice.

"Yes," Arthur answered simply.

"You're wanted for questioning," he got out of his chair, "Follow me"

Arthur looked back at Ariadne, her hand had moved from her forehead to her stomach.

He quickly caught up with the short man as he walked away. "Sir, my fiancé was in first class too," he pointed to Ariadne, "Is she wanted for questioning also?"

The grumpy looking man looked over at her, "I would think so," he reasoned.

Arthur motioned towards her and the man nodded. He walked back to where Ariadne was standing and took her hand. She looked up in surprise.

"Arthur?"

"Follow me," he whispered.

She took a hold of her suitcase and followed a step behind him as Arthur made way back to the passport man.

"Through there," the short man pointed to a hallway that was lined with seats and doors.

Arthur nodded and slowly walked over to one of the seats, taking Ariadne's suitcase as she sat herself down. Her hand slipped away from his and he found himself oddly missing her touch.

They waited there for fifteen minutes before another man, dressed in a dark blue uniform, beckoned them into one of the rooms.

They sat down across from the airport worker, a table separating them.

The man introduced himself as John and explained that he had been assigned the task of interviewing each of the first class passengers.

"We don't like to put people through unnecessary questioning," he said, "But having two people on the same plane, in the same class, fall into comas during a flight is just too odd to be coincidence"

"Of course," Arthur agreed.

"Which is why I'll need to ask you and your fiancé several questions and do some background checks," The man continued.

"That sounds reasonable," Arthur said, even though he was desperate to leave, he couldn't' let it show.

"Let's get to it then," The man gave an odd smile and clapped his hands together.

For the next two hours, Arthur and Ariadne had to wait while background checks where done on them, they had to answer a continuous stream of questions and fill out several forms. All the while Ariadne was looking worse and worse, and Arthur was getting impatient.

The next time the 'investigator' walked back in Arthur stood up before the man had a chance to sit down.

"Sir, is this really necessary? We've answered all of your questions, some twice and yet you still keep us here," Arthur reasoned with the man.

"I know it seems endless, but we just have to do a few more checks," the man told him.

Arthur knew that 'a few more checks' probably meant at least another hour. He sighed; he was going to have to pull out the big guns.

He put a hand on the inspector's shoulder, "Listen, my fiancé is two months pregnant. We've been here two and a half hours on top of a ten hour flight. We're both tired and she's not feeling well. Don't you think you could please let us go?" Arthur hated to beg, but Ariadne was looking like she could be sick any minute.

The man looked over at Ariadne, "Let me make a call," he said and exited the room.

Arthur walked back over to his seat and sat down. He leaned over towards Ariadne, "Have you got a hotel room booked?"

She shook her head.

He guessed she hadn't had the time, seeing as her place in the dream had been so last minute.

"You can stay with me for tonight if you like, my hotel suit has an extra bedroom," Arthur offered.

Ariadne gave a small nod, but didn't speak.

The door opened and the man in dark blue uniform walked back in. "You're free to leave," he said, "But we ask that you please stay in the city for at least a week, incase we need to call you back in. If we don't contact you within that timeframe then you may go as you please"

Arthur gave an inward groan. A whole week? He would have to cancel his other flights.

He put on a smile for the investigator, "Thank you," he said while shaking the man's hand.

"No problem and congratulations," he replied, nodding to where the young architect was sitting.

Arthur gave another fake smile and helped Ariadne up. He took her suitcase in one hand and readjusted the strap of his shoulder bag. They made their way out of the airport.

It was raining when they got outside and the taxi lane was bare. The pair sat down on a cold steel bench as they waited for a means of transport. Arthur was startled slightly when he felt a weight against his arm. He looked down to see Ariadne leaning against him with her eyes closed and brows furrowed.

He knew he needed to get her to the hotel, and soon.

* * *

Yay! First chapter up!

Next time - A new chapter in Ariadne's POV.

Oh and sorry if it was meant to be Fiancée and not Fiancé, I wasn't sure which one.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh gosh, I checked my email this afternoon and nearly had a heat attack when I saw all the messages from fanfiction. Thank you so much for all the story alerts and reviews! They made my day. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

* * *

Ariadne P.O.V

With each step towards the taxi, it felt as if someone was hitting Ariadne's head with a hammer. She let out a small groan.

_Migraine _

But besides the fact that she felt like she could be sick at any moment, only two thoughts occupied her tired mind.

The first thought was of Cobb and Saito, the image of the two ambulances on the tarmac was burned into her mind. Ariadne wondered if they would ever wake up and even if they did wake up, would their minds have turned to jelly?

Ariadne remembered Cobb's kids and wondered who was going to tell them that their father may never wake up again.

Her second thought was more of a question along the lines of 'What the hell?'

In the airport, Arthur had dragged her along to some questioning room, then mentioned the words fiancé and pregnant and now they were in a taxi, driving to _his_ hotel where she would stay in _his_ suit because _he_ had offered her the extra room.

Had he completely forgotten the two week, no contact rule?

As the taxi turned a sharp corner, Ariadne bought her hand up to cover her mouth and then rested her burning forehead against the cool car window. She realized that this situation was in fact her fault. She had been the one who was to busy looking in her bag for painkillers to notice what immigration line she got in.

_Arthur must think I'm some sort of idiot_.

Ariadne shifted position in her seat and immediately regretted it as a wave of nausea came over her. She let out another groan and opened her eyes when she felt a pressure on her upper arm.

"We're here," she heard Arthur say softly.

She groggily opened the taxi door and made her way to the hotel's entrance, trying not to upset her stomach further. Arthur followed behind, her suitcase in one hand and his bag slung on the opposite shoulder.

They stopped at the front desk to sign in and Arthur took the key to their suit. He then wrapped his hand around hers and led her to the lift.

Unfortunately, it was the motion of that lift that pushed Ariadne's stomach over the edge.

She stumbled slightly, "Arthur, I'm going to be sick"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod just as the lift stopped on the fourth floor. He quickly ushered her over to the first door on the left.

_Lucky,_ she thought.

Arthur slid the key card into a slot next to the door, there was a small beep and she heard the click of the lock.

They entered and Ariadne found herself standing in a large bedroom with two doors to the left and one to the right.

"Right," Arthur said from behind her.

Ariadne practically ran over to the door before kneeling in front of the toilet bowl and retching. It wasn't till a moment later, when she sat back on the cold tiled floor and looked up, that she realized Arthur had followed her into the room.

He was holding out a warm, damp flannel. She took it from his hands and wiped her mouth and face.

"Would you like a glass of water?" he asked her.

Ariadne's throat was burning so instead of talking, she simple gave him a small nod. At this indication, Arthur walked out of the bathroom. A moment later she heard the opening of what must have been a drinks fridge and then a clear glass entered her vision.

She wrapped her slender fingers around the glass and savored its cool touch. After a few sips, the burning in her throat was relieved and Ariadne was content to lean back against the bathroom wall and place the cold glass on her forehead.

Ariadne felt numb, numb to the fact that their mission had gone so wrong, numb to the fact that Cobb and Saito were now in comas and numb even to Arthur's presence in the doorway. Months ago she had been a simple architect student, leading the normal life of a person under study. But now she was half way around the world and had just performed a highly risky, not to mention illegal job, and paid the price in the health of two newly made friends.

She felt like crying but didn't have the energy.

It was at the point when she felt like closing her eyes and going to sleep that Arthur cleared his throat. Ariadne bought the glass back down and raised a weak eyebrow at him.

"Perhaps you should shower and got some rest," he suggested.

Ariadne looked across the room to where the shower was. It seemed so far away. But Arthur was right, all she needed to do right now was get cleaned up and sleep her nausea away.

She made to stand but wobbled as her head spun. She felt Arthur's hands on her shoulders, steadying her.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Don't mention it. Would you like me to get you your suit case?" he offered.

Ariadne gave him a small smile, "Please"

While he fetched her case, Ariadne looked at herself in the large mirror. _I look awful_, she thought, but found herself not particularly caring.

When Arthur returned, he didn't enter. He simply put her small travel case down near the bathroom entrance and closed the door. Ariadne looked up in surprise at the sound of wood slamming against wood. She promptly locked the door and opened up her suitcase, taking out toiletries and nightwear.

She turned her head to the right, intending to get to the shower, and gasped in pain as her neck muscles spasmed. Ariadne realized that she must have slept with her head at an odd angle and now a few small knots had settled themselves in her right shoulder and neck.

_Bugger_

She sighed and picked up her soap, shampoo and conditioner and made her way over to the shower, this time being careful to turn her whole body and not just her head. Ariadne undressed and turned on the water, making sure that the temperature was a little hotter than she usually had it.

As the warm water soaked her hair and somewhat soothed her tense muscles, only one thought remained in Ariadne's head. It continuously rebounded in her mind.

_What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? _

* * *

Alright, second chapter up. In future, updates probably aren't going to be as quick as this one was; I mean 2 chapters in 2 days is a bit much. But rest assured, I'll update as often and as quickly as possible. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again for all the reviews, alerts and faves. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

* * *

Arthur P.O.V

Arthur was sitting on a relatively comfy chair located in the main bedroom. He had taken his tie off and the top button of his shirt was undone. The whir of a hair dryer sounded from the bathroom and he ran a hand through his own gelled hair as his mind began war upon itself.

He knew that he shouldn't be seen with Ariadne, but after acting impulsively at the airport and putting a false identity upon her, not to mention himself, Arthur knew that it was too late to just drop her at some hotel. What if the immigration officer called again, asking for Ariadne? He couldn't just say, 'Oh sorry, my pregnant fiancé is staying at a different hotel from me, should I get her to call you back?'

_Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. _

The whole situation was wrong.

And yet, a small part of Arthur wanted Ariadne to stay, a part of him that wanted company, a part that, for once, didn't wish to be alone after a completed mission.

Perhaps it was because of what happened to Cobb and Saito. Or perhaps it was the young architect herself. The newest member of their team had fascinated him almost from the moment he first saw her. She was a true puzzle.

A puzzle that the selfish part of Arthur wanted to solve.

He rubbed one of his tired eyes with the heel of his palm and looked up when the bathroom door opened. Ariadne stepped out dressed in long pale blue pyjamas, with a hotel robe wrapped around her. She carried her small suitcase in one hand.

Her eyes scanned the room for a moment before she found him. "You said you had an extra bedroom?"

Arthur stood up quickly, smoothing down his shirt and pants at the same time, "Yes. Right through here," he indicated to one of the doors on his right.

"Thanks," she said.

"Not a problem"

She had made it halfway across the room but turned to face him. He noted that she turned her whole body, not just her head.

"No, I mean thanks for everything. If it weren't for you, I would probably still be waiting near that taxi lane," she tucked a damp lock of hair behind her ear, "And sorry for putting you through all this, it was silly of me to get into the same immigration line as you in the first place."

She made to open her door, but Arthur grabbed the handle first. "Ari," _Ari? Since when did he call her that?_ "You were sick and this is my fault anyway. I was the one who pulled you along with me, pretending you were my fiancé"

She gave him a smile, "Well I'm glad you did anyway, because I would never have come up with such a good excuse to get out of questioning"

"Yes, well. I think it would be best if we stayed together for this next week. Now that we have created these false identities, we must stick to them so as not to arouse suspicion"

Ariadne looked reluctant for a moment, but quickly hid it. "I agree. Do you want me to pay for half of the suit?"

"No, leave that to me. You should get some rest," he opened her door for her, "Goodnight, Ariadne"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you? My mother?", but then she smiled and walked inside, closing the door behind her.

Arthur's eyes lingered on her door handle for a moment and he subconsciously bought a hand up to run a finger along his lips. But then he caught himself and flung his hand away as if it had been burned. _It was only dream. Not real life,_ he scolded himself.

Arthur walked over to the bathroom and splashed some cool water on his face. He looked over at the shower and decided that it was getting late, so he would clean himself up in the morning.

Silently, he got changed and slid into the large king sized bed. He rolled his totem once on the bedside table and, satisfied with the result; laid his head on the pillow.

* * *

It was 3am when Arthur awoke. He sat up and felt the sheets slide down his bare chest and pool around his waist. A yawn escaped his mouth as he made his way over to the drinks fridge, intending to get himself a glass of water, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard the television.

_Television? _

_Ariadne. _

Arthur walked over to her door and placed an ear to the shiny surface. Yes, definitely the television. He knocked on the smooth wood.

"Ariadne?"

There were a few frantic sounding crashes but the door was quickly opened. Ariadne came into view and Arthur saw the bags under her eyes.

"Oh, Arthur. Sorry. Did I wake you?" She was almost fumbling over her words. _Lack of sleep_, he guessed.

"No, I needed a glass of water anyway. But I have to admit, I am slightly curious as to why you're watching television at 3am"

Ariadne rubbed her neck, "I couldn't sleep," she admitted.

Arthur frowned, "Do you still feel ill?"

"No, no I feel much better. I just have a kink in my neck and I'm finding it hard to get comfortable"

Arthur thought that there might be something more to her insomnia, but he didn't press her. "Did you sleep awkwardly on the plane?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Something like that I guess"

"If you wanted, I could massage it for you," he offered on impulse. _Have to stop doing that._

Ariadne looked him up and down. Even in the dim lighting he could see her cheeks colour. "Perhaps in the morning," she said.

Arthur heard the tiredness in her voice. "Well, at least let me get you some painkillers so you get some sort of sleep"

She leaned against the door frame and closed her eyes, "That would be great"

He walked back over to his bedside table and rummaged in his bag for the box of Nurofen he always kept handy. "One or two?" he called.

"Two, please"

Arthur popped two of the small white tablets into his hand and moved to the drinks fridge where he poured half a glass of water. He gave both items to Ariadne who promptly swallowed the painkillers.

"Thanks," she said while putting the glass down on a nearby table, "Goodnight Arthur"

"Goodnight Ariadne," he replied as she closed her door.

As he got back into his own bed, Arthur noted that this was going to be a long week.

* * *

**Hmmm, is it just me or is Arthur a little out of character? Perhaps it's just the stress or maybe it's something else…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again for all the reviews, story alerts and faves! Hope you enjoy this next chapter. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

**Day One **

* * *

**Ariadne P.O.V **

Ariadne rolled over, but kept her eyes shut. Though Arthur's painkillers had given her a few hours sleep, her neck still hurt like hell. Of course this was only because of stiffness, but Ariadne didn't fancy the idea of having to get up in order to loosen her tight muscles as the day went by.

She cracked one eye open and was met face to face with her totem, sitting on her bedside table. She cautiously reached out a hand from under her warm covers and knocked the bishop over. It gave a satisfying 'clunk'.

Ariadne's stomach grumbled. She groaned. She hated it when her hunger decided when it was, or when it wasn't time to get up. Normally Ariadne was a morning person anyway, often getting up before her alarm. But today was different.

Different for one particular reason.

A reason that was, in fact, a person.

A person that was only a wall away from her at this very moment.

_Arthur. _

Ariadne didn't know if she could cope with the fumbling and awkwardness that the man bought out from her. She wasn't a control freak, but she did like to have some charge over any given situation.

She sighed.

Not wanting to linger on her current predicament, Ariadne rolled out of bed and got dressed. All while trying not to move her head, it was harder to do that she had expected. But after some time, she succeeded and noted that she would have to purchase some more clothes later. She had only packed for a few days, not a whole week.

Ariadne put her totem in her jeans pocket, tied her scarf around her neck and poked her head around the door.

Arthur was no where in sight and so she walked over to the small table near the drinks fridge and sat down on a high backed chair. As she reached for the hotel phone, intending to order breakfast, Ariadne saw that the bathroom door was closed. She reasoned that Arthur must have been showering or doing some other sort of morning activity.

She looked from the phone in her hand and back to the door.

Her stomach grumbled again.

_Arthur can order his own breakfast._

She pressed the second button on the speed dial and in less than threes rings, a young woman had picked up on the other end. Ariadne asked about breakfast selections and ordered quickly. She was relieved to hear that breakfast was free with the stay and she would only have to pay for lunch and dinner.

After putting the phone back on its hook, Ariadne picked up a glass from the shelf above the fridge and poured herself some water. She sat there, sipping at her water, until there was a knock at the door.

_Food._

Ariadne unlocked the door and was met with an older man, who had a trolley in front of him.

"Order for room 1 on floor 4?" he asked in a gruff but friendly tone.

"Yes, thank you," Ariadne made to take the trolley but the man waved her aside. Instead, he gently pushed past her and kindly set everything up on the table.

"I, um…Thank you," she said again as the man left.

"Jus' doin my job," he said and walked of down the hall.

Ariadne sat back down, intent on eating when the bathroom door opened and Arthur stepped out, dressed in an impeccable three piece suit as usual. Why did he always look so good? It was distracting.

When he spotted her by the table, he didn't offer the normal 'good morning'. Instead he greeted her with a question.

"Pancakes and ice-cream?"

Ariadne shrugged, "Comfort food," she explained. And, deciding that she had waited long enough for her beloved pancakes, turned away from him and tucked in.

As she poured her maple syrup, Ariadne could have sworn she heard a quiet laugh.

* * *

**Ugghh…sorry this is so short and nothing much happened, but don't worry I'm going to update real quick. XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, I'm making this a long (ok, maybe not that long, but certainly longer than the last chapter) chapter to make up for my horrible shortness and lack of…well…everything in chapter 4. **

Disclaimer: I do not of Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

* * *

**Arthur P.O.V**

Arthur sat across from Ariadne, a warm cup of coffee in his hands. She had finished her breakfast and was now sipping a cup of tea. This amused Arthur, he had always thought of her as a coffee person. He guessed it was just another thing he didn't know about her.

Ariadne looked up at him from her drink. He raised an eyebrow.

She bit her lip before speaking, "Do you think Cobb and Saito will ever wake up?"

Arthur took another sip of his coffee and gave a sigh, "I honestly don't know, Ariadne. I've never been to limbo myself but I know that it's a hard place to get out of"

"Cobb did it before"

"And he might do it again, but we can't be sure," Arthur ran a hand through his hair, Ariadne was bringing things up that he didn't particularly want to think about.

"What about Saito?" Ariadne put her cup down on the table and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I think Saito may never wake up. He's never been to limbo before and he doesn't have the experience that Cobb does"

"Cobb might find him," she said hopefully.

"Limbo is a very big place," Arthur said gently.

"I know," there was a tone of sadness in her voice.

"But we shouldn't dwell on it," he stated before taking another casual sip, "There was nothing either of us could have done to change the outcome"

"What if you had known about Fischer being trained against extraction?" Ariadne asked quickly and then covered her mouth, "Crap, sorry. I'm not trying to say it was your fault or anything, I just, well-"

He cut her off with a small flick of his hand, "Its fine, Ariadne. I considered that myself. I believe even if we had known about Fischer's training, Saito probably would have still insisted on coming and he may have been shot anyway. Any of us could have been"

Ariadne shrugged and finished off her tea and got up to put her cup on the trolley. Arthur moved his free hand to his pocket and rubbed a thumb over the small red die that was his totem, a frown found its way onto his face. _She's walking strangely. _

"Ari?" he called out as she walked towards the bathroom.

She turned around, there was a small smile on her face and Arthur decided that he would use that nickname more often, "Yes?"

"How is your neck this morning?"

Ariadne bought a hand up and rubbed between her neck and shoulder, "Uhh, it's alright. Honestly Arthur, you don't have to worry about it"

She tried to edge towards the bathroom but Arthur stood up. "I know you're lying," he said, "Why don't you let me rub some cream into it? Just for a bit, I don't want you walking around awkwardly for the rest of the day"

"Really Arthur, its fine," she took a step closer to the door, "I'm sure it'll loosen up during the day anyway"

"Ariadne, please, just let me help," he took a step towards her, "Don't you want have a quick massage now to loosen it up, rather than wait for it to loosen by itself?"

As soon as the word 'please' left his mouth, Arthur knew he had convinced her.

Ariadne's shoulders sagged slightly and she let out a sigh, "Fine, but isn't it a little unprofessional?"

Arthur gave her a slightly amused look, "Well, I would hardly call our line of work professional anyway. But if you insist then I am simply a man who is helping his colleague"

Ariadne's eyebrows moved closer together, "Well, I suppose. But I'm going to the bathroom first," she pointed at him, "You. Practically hogged it all morning"

He gave a smile as she turned her back, "I did no such thing"

Ariadne's hand was on the bathroom door handle as she called, "I would give you a look but I can't turn my head right now," and with that, she stepped in and closed the door.

* * *

Arthur rubbed his hands together to warm them up and poured a small amount of cream into his right. Ariadne was sitting on a cushion on the floor in front of him, her scarf was in her lap and the right side of her loose shirt was pulled over her shoulder, exposing the pale skin of her neck.

"Sorry if the cream's cold," Arthur said to break the awkward silence that had enveloped the room, "But it won't last long"

"No, no that's fine," she assured him and Arthur thought he heard a slight squeak in her voice.

"Well alright then," he said with a slight smile on his face, "Can you tell me where it hurts the most?"

Ariadne bought a delicate hand right to the join of her neck and shoulder, "Here"

Arthur nodded to himself and moved her hand away. There was a strange reaction inside of him when their skin touched. He wiped the cream off from his hand and onto the spot she had indicated. Ariadne gave a suppressed shiver.

"Cold?" he asked.

"A little, but it's gone now," Ariadne shifted her position slightly on the cushion and a piece of hair fell from behind her ear and into the cream. Arthur tucked it back for her and she stiffened.

Arthur quickly pulled his hand away, "Something wrong?"

"No! I uh, I mean. Can we just get this over with?"

"Of course," Arthur promptly began to massage. He was gentle at first because the area was obviously quite tender. But as the muscles loosened up he took the opportunity to work away the knots that had settled there. He used his whole palm when massaging up and down her shoulder and used his thumb to gently work the knots. The whole time, about fifteen minutes, Ariadne never said a thing and it began to frustrate Arthur, not that he would ever show it of course.

"Honestly Ariadne, you're going to have to tell me if anything I'm doing is helping at all," he said in a not-unkind voice.

She whispered something that he couldn't hear.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I said, it's wonderful," she turned slowly to face him and thought for a moment, "Still a little sore but no where near as bad as it was. Thank you, Arthur"

"Not at all. I'm glad to help," he stood up a walked around her to the bathroom where he washed his hands and readjusted his tie.

When he walked back out Ariadne was still sitting in the same spot, she hadn't even pulled her shirt back yet. Arthur walked over to her and offered his hand. She took it and he helped her up. In the process her scarf fell to the floor. Ariadne made to pick it up but Arthur stopped her, "Let me"

He scooped the orange patterned scarf up from the ground and ran it between his fingers for a moment. "Nice material," he stated.

"Uh, thanks," Ariadne tried to take it from his hands but he moved away.

"May I?" He nodded to the scarf.

Colour appeared on her cheeks, "Yeah, I suppose. As long as you don't try to steal anymore kisses from me," she ended with a smile.

Arthur smiled back and put his hand over his heart, "You have my word"

Seemingly satisfied, Ariadne turned her back to him and he tied the scarf for her, letting his fingers linger on her skin for a little longer than necessary. She broke the contact by turning to face him.

She put her hands on his shoulders and stood up on her toes. For a moment Arthur thought that she was going to kiss him but her lips avoided his face and instead her warm breath met his ear, "You know, I think that I should give into your massages more often," and with that statement she gave a smile and walked over to her bedroom.

Arthur seriously contemplated following her.

* * *

**So, good chapter? **

**I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review and feel free to give constructive criticism. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again for all the reviews, faves and alerts. Every one of them makes me smile when I open my email, I'm glad that you are all enjoying the story so far. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

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**Ariadne P.O.V **

(By the way, if you hate this chapter, please read my 'end of chapter' comment before getting angry at me. Thanks)

Ariadne heard the click of the door as Arthur closed it behind her. She shuffled over to one of the lounge chairs, sat down and rested her exhausted legs. She watched as the ever calm and seemingly never tired Arthur placed her few shopping bags down next to her.

"Thanks"

"Not at all," he said with a slight smile.

Ariadne leaned back into the chair as her eyes flicked over the room. The shiny surface of the silver case under Arthur's bed caught her attention. She wondered if she would ever have the opportunity to build in the dreamscape again. After this week, did she just go back to her studies or was there further employment out there? The question was one that had been puzzling her for some time but she had come up with no answer. Perhaps she could ask Arthur later on.

Her eyes moved to the large window near Arthur's bed. The curtains were drawn back and Ariadne could see the sun beginning to set over the city. Her eyes moved again and noticed the large television on the wall opposite to Arthur's bed, above the dinner table. Ariadne found that she had a strange craving to watch the news.

She got up from the chair and winced as pain ran up from her feet into her calves.

_I need another massage already. _

She walked over to the small wall cupboard under the television that presumably held a DVD player, or something along those lines, and opened one of the doors. After a moment she pulled out a remote and switched on the TV.

As Ariadne flicked the channels to find the news, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Arthur had picked up the phone. She didn't question it, after all who was she to ask Arthur who he was or wasn't calling. But her curiosity was satisfied anyway, when Arthur looked over to her and said, "I'm ordering dinner. What would you like?"

She had finally found a news channel and kept her eyes on the screen while she replied, "Uh, I don't mind. Anything but seafood"

Ariadne gave a quick glance to Arthur's face and saw a slightly amused expression. She quickly turned her eyes back to the telly.

Then a story came onto the news that caught her attention. The reporter was speaking about the Fischer Company. Ariadne swiftly pulled the chair over that she had been sitting on and sat down. Arthur had finished ordering and put the phone back on hook.

She motioned for him to come over. They watched as the reporter described the sudden fall in the Fischer's company, then as quickly as it had been on, it was over and the news moved on to sports. Ariadne opened her mouth a few times but no words came out.

Arthur beat her to it, "We did it," he remarked.

Ariadne smiled at him, "We did it," she agreed.

"So it would seem that inception is possible," Arthur said while pulling his own chair over.

Ariadne raised an eyebrow, "You didn't think it was possible before?"

Arthur turned to face her, "No, until now I hadn't thought that inception was possible," he seemed to want to end the conversation then and there and turned his head back to the screen.

Ariadne would have none of it.

"Why?" she asked.

Arthur gave a sigh and looked back at her, "If I said to you 'don't think about elephants', then what do you think about?"

Ariadne answered quickly, "Uh, elephants"

"Right, but you still know that the idea of elephants came from another source," he paused, "Which is me"

Ariadne nodded, quickly grasping what he was implying, "But inception did work, because the idea was more complicated and so the mark found it harder to trace the source"

Arthur finally smiled, "You learn quickly Ariadne, I like that about you," he closed his mouth a moment as if he had said too much, but quickly recovered, "But besides your point, we also managed to make Fischer think he had come up with the idea himself. A technique that I had never thought about before"

"So we can say that inception works if done correctly," Ariadne stated.

"Yes, much like extraction or any other job really," Arthur flicked his eyes to the screen to watch the weather, Ariadne did the same.

When the ads came on Ariadne turned the volume down and looked over at Arthur. He noticed her stare immediately and raised a curios eyebrow.

Ariadne bit her lip, "I've been wanting to ask you something, Arthur"

He leaned toward her slightly, "Yes?"

"Well, what happens now? I mean at the end of this week do we just go our separate ways? Do I just go back to my studies? Or are there other jobs out there involving extraction and inception?" Ariadne thought that Arthur almost looked disappointed at her questions, like he had wanted her to ask something else, but the expression was gone in an instant, "I mean I don't know how I could go back to normal architecture after experiencing such possibilities that I did in dreams"

Arthur turned his seat to face her and Ariadne did the same, "Well, it's entirely up to you, Ari. How much more of your studies do you need to complete?"

She thought for a moment, "Around eight months I should think"

Arthur nodded, "In that case I would recommend you finish your education and then if you still want to, you can come back"

"But where would I 'come back' too? Even if Cobb wakes up, he'll want to stay with his kids, so who would lead the team?"

"Well, I once worked as an extractor for a short time before I met Cobb and became a point man. If you still wanted to be a dreamscape architect after you finish studying, then I would happily team with you," Arthur offered.

Ariadne beamed, "That would be just, well, fantastic! Thank you, Arthur. I was so unsure of everything and now its so, just, well-" She couldn't find the words to finish her sentence and so instead she got up and hugged Arthur, quite awkwardly seeing as he was sitting down. In response he wrapped his arms around her and Ariadne shivered slightly at the touch of his strong hands.

It was at that moment their dinner arrived, at the knock Ariadne jumped away from Arthur and gave a shy smile, "I suppose I should get that"

But Arthur stood up, "No it's alright, I'll get it. You go and wash up"

Ariadne readjusted her scarf, "Thanks"

* * *

**Ugghh! For some reason I find it really hard to write in Ariadne's P.O.V :( I dunno why, but her chapters always end up really short and well, boring. So sorry about that. **

**So does anybody mind if, for the next few chapters, I just write in Arthur's P.O.V? I'll be sure to write in Ariadne's eventually but for now I think I'll stick to Arthur unless I need to switch for some reason. **

**Also, to make up for this crappy chapter, I'm gonna make the next one a bit more meaty. Is that the correct term? Hahaha, I don't know XD**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wooo! Time to avenge my story after the **_**Boring **_**assault of the previous chapter. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

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**Arthur P.O.V **

Ariadne looked from the food on the table back to Arthur, "Burgers?"

"Burgers," Arthur confirmed.

Ariadne seemed surprised for a reason that Arthur could not identify. "Is there something wrong?"

She sat down near the table, "No, no. Its just I always thought of you as the 'salad' type of guy"

Arthur sat down across from her, "Well I usually am, but often when I feel tired, I find a burger is much more appealing than a salad"

Ariadne placed a napkin on her lap and smiled at him from the other side of the table, "Thank you, this is exactly what I felt like"

"I'm glad. Your request for 'anything but seafood' left me a broad guessing field so I went with my said line of thought," Arthur laid his own napkin down and picked up his knife and fork.

As he began to cut his burger into edible quarters he noticed that Ariadne had abandoned her cutlery and had picked her burger up in her hands. Arthur found himself not being able to look away as she bit into her food. Ariadne's handling of the burger had suggested to Arthur that she was going to be a messy eater, or perhaps just not eat as neatly as he. But what Arthur saw was the complete opposite.

For some strange reason it amused him.

He turned his eyes back to his own food before she could notice his staring and finished his burger in no time. Arthur reached out for his glass of water and saw that Ariadne had moved on to picking at her salad. Again he couldn't look away, but for a very different reason.

He couldn't help but notice how her lips moved over the fork that she had placed in her mouth or how her jaw moved as she chewed and then her throat as she swallowed. Ariadne's tired eyes were looking into the distance somewhere behind him and she didn't notice his staring.

Arthur's eyes followed her tongue as she licked her lips and wondered what it would feel like to do the same to her with his own tongue.

_Look away, look away, look away. _

He stood up suddenly in order to break the fixation. At the movement Ariadne looked up at him and Arthur saw the bags under her eyes. He found himself not liking the idea of Ariadne finding it hard to sleep and being tired because of it. Sure, he had seen her over work into the early morning hours at the warehouse, but for some reason this felt different.

He sat back down and the young architect made no comment on his strange behavior.

"Ari?"

She seemed startled for a moment by his voice but then answered, "Yes?"

"What was the real reason why you found it hard to get to sleep last night?" he wasn't normally one to pry, but he cared for Ariadne.

She stiffened, "I already told you, my sore neck was bothering me" she returned to her food and tried to avoid his eyes.

He smiled and dared to speak the words, "I don't believe you"

Ariadne dropped her fork onto her plate and gave him a cold stare, "What?" she asked through her teeth.

"I said, I don't believe you," Arthur began to wonder if he had gone too far.

Ariadne narrowed her eyes, "And why on earth should I tell you why I can or can't sleep? Do you expect me to just pour all of my problems and fears into your lap and ask for your opinion on them?" she stood up and it looked as if she couldn't decide whether to make for her room or for the hall.

Arthur also stood up and stepped towards her, "Ari, I was only trying to help. I'm sorry if I've offended you"

She placed a hand on the table and pointed a finger at him, "You know, that is one thing that has been on my mind ever since you dragged me into the whole 'fiancé pregnancy' story. Why do you care?"

Arthur took another step and wrapped his hand around her own accusing hand, "You mean why I care about your welfare? Why did I care about the fact that you were ill at the airport? Why I care about how much sleep you get?"

"Yes," she said defiantly, but Arthur could see that she was beginning to crumble.

He leaned a little towards her, "It's simple really. We've been working together for the past couple of months, I've taught you things and in some ways you've taught me things. We just went through inception, the biggest dreamscape job I've ever done and the first you've ever been a part of. Is it not natural that I would care about you?"

Ariadne looked from his hand around hers and back to his face, "So, not just a responsibility?"

"Definitely not a responsibility," Arthur assured her.

Ariadne pulled her hand back after he loosened his grip and sat back down. Arthur pulled his chair over and sat next to her, "So, what's the real reason Ari?"

The architect sighed and ran a finger along her scarf, "It was a few things I guess, mainly I was afraid"

"Afraid of what?" Arthur asked, concerned.

Her eyes locked to his and Arthur found himself wanting to get lost in her pools of chocolate brown, "Afraid of not dreaming," she broke the gaze and fiddled with her scarf again, "I know its silly, but it was such a foreign concept, not dreaming and I didn't know what would happen"

Arthur softened his usual stone face, "I don't think you really need to worry about that for the moment. I've never heard of anyone losing the ability to dream after only their first job"

"Do you still dream?" she asked after taking a sip of her drink.

Arthur thought for a moment, "I do, but not often. I dream maybe once every three to four months," he reached back across the table do pick up his own glass, "Though it's different for every person. I know that Cobb stopped dreaming completely, after Mal's death"

"Well, I hope it's a while yet for me," she said before getting up and walking over to her room, Ariadne turned back around before she entered, "Thanks Arthur, I think I might get some sleep tonight"

"Glad to help, but may I ask one more thing?"

Ariadne shrugged her shoulders, "Sure"

"What were the 'other few things'?" he asked.

She smiled, "That were keeping me from sleeping?"

_God, she has a beautiful smile. _"Uh, yes"

An embarrassed sounding laugh escaped Ariadne's lips, "I don't know Arthur, I just took part in an illegal job that was so insane and dangerous that I could probably refer to it as more of a mission than a job. How would you sleep?"

The rest of Arthur's concern faded away after her explanation, "So that's everything?"

Ariadne shrugged again, "That and the usual homesick kind of stuff"

Arthur stood up from his chair, "And if you could, what would make this place homier?"

She looked into the distance for a second, contemplating his question. "Lavenders," she finally decided.

"Lavenders?"

"Yeah, back at my apartment I always had a vase of lavenders. I love the smell, it's calming and all that," she explained.

Arthur nodded and changed the conversation, "Well I'll let you have the first shower, if you want it"

"No, it's alright. I think I'll have one in the morning. Just let me get changed and I'll just use the bathroom before I go to bed," she reached around the doorframe and switched her light on, "Then it's all yours"

He smiled, "Thank you"

While Ariadne proceeded to do all she had said, Arthur tidied away the dishes and put them back on the trolley that they had been delivered with. He had been surprised when the hotel willingly delivered their dinner at his request, in past stays they had only delivered breakfast and he would have to go to the restaurant to eat lunch or dinner. Perhaps it was because he had used the 'pregnant fiancée' spin again. _Have to stop doing that. _

When Ariadne had finished with the bathroom and gone to bed, Arthur decided to take a shower so that it was free for her in the morning.

As he washed his hair, he wondered what this week would bring.

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**Ok, so next chapter will be day 2 and I think I might split the chapter in half, like one half will be Arthur P.O.V and the other will be Ariadne P.O.V or something like that haha. **

**Oh and I wasn't sure if Ariadne had brown or hazel eyes, I can't remember haha so, I just said brown. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Woo! Back into fiction!**

**Sorry that it's been a while, I took a bit of a break. I hope you don't mind :) **

**Oh, and thanks for the continued reviews/watches/faves, they're always encouraging.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

**Day 2 **

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Arthur P.O.V

Quietly as he could, Arthur opened the door to Ariadne's bedroom. Normally he would never enter another person's space without their permission, but he wanted to surprise the Architect.

Earlier in the morning, he had visited a local florist, right on their opening time, and purchased the small bundle of lavenders that were now sitting in a vase of water in his hand.

Arthur re-adjusted his grip on the vase as he walked through the doorway.

Ariadne's bedside table was on the opposite side of the room.

_Typical,_ Arthur thought.

Though not deterred, he slowly made his way around the queen sized bed. Arthur stole a quick glance at the sleeping young woman; Ariadne was curled up tightly with her head just sticking out from under the warm covers. Arthur recalled how she had told him one chilly day at the warehouse that she was a morning person and often got up before the sun.

_But not today, _he mused.

Arthur swiftly placed the jar of flowers on the table and stiffened as Ariadne rolled over upon hearing the sound of glass against wood. But she wasn't awake and so he took the opportunity to leave the room, stealing one last glance of her sleeping form and wishing that he had the opportunity to see it more often.

* * *

Ariadne cracked one eye open and could clearly see the sun shining from under the curtains of her window. She closed her eye again against the glare.

_I haven't slept in this late in years, _she thought.

Ariadne blindly reached an arm out to her side table, intending to give her totem a knock, but instead found her hand meeting with glass. A strange idea formed in her head and she took a deep breath in through her nose.

Lavenders.

Ariadne opened both eyes and saw that there was, in fact, a jar of purple lavenders sitting on her bedside table.

_Arthur._

She sat up in the bed with a stupid smile on her face and rolled her eyes, remembering what her mother once told her, _'Any boy that brings you flowers in this day in age, deserves your attention'._ Arthur already had her attention, but the flowers were still very nice.

After getting dressed and grabbing her toiletries, Ariadne opened her door and made her way to the bathroom. Arthur was nowhere in sight so she reasoned that he must have gone down to the restaurant for breakfast. It seemed a strange thing to do seeing as they delivered breakfast for free to the door. But she let it pass and was quickly showered and dressed.

She chucked her toiletries back into her room and turned the television on, while waiting for Arthur to return. It was a good half hour before there was a knock on the door. Ariadne opened the door and was surprised to see Arthur standing in front of her; _didn't he have a key card? _

"Sorry," he apologized, "Forgot my card"

She shrugged, "Well its not really that hard to walk from the seat to the door"

"Ahh, so I didn't wake you?"

"No, if you had I would still be in my pajamas," Ariadne made sure to smile with her sarcasm so as not to offend him, he seemed a little off today. Normally the ever-quick Arthur could have figured out those things on his own.

"Good," He lifted up a plastic bag, "I got you this, so you don't have to order"

Ariadne took the package from him and looked inside, there was a white container sitting in the bag. She breathed in and smelt a familiar scent.

"Pancakes! Thank you, Arthur," she smiled up at him again, "And thank you for the lavenders too"

Arthur stepped inside the room, "I hope that they help with your 'homesickness'"

"They're lovely," she replied while setting herself and her breakfast at the table.

* * *

Arthur had already eaten breakfast and so he chose to call up the airline and make his new bookings for the end of the week while Ariadne ate. Again, Arthur couldn't help but notice the way her lips moved over the fork as she took a bites of food.

It was so distracting that he had to turn around in order to finish his calls. When they both finished their activities around the same time Ariadne walked over to her bedroom and returned with a small A4 sketchpad and tin of different types of pencils.

She sat in one of the couch chairs and drew her knees up for the pad to rest on. Her eyes flicked up to his with a look of slight realization, "Oh, sorry. Do you mind if I sketch?"

"Not at all," Arthur said, shaking his head, "I need to send some emails anyway"

And for a short while that's what they did, though Arthur soon finished with his emails and took to lazily surfing the web as Ariadne continued to draw. As Ariadne finished a sketch she tore it off and placed it gently on the floor, moving on to her next idea. Arthur was surprised to see that the drawing wasn't a building or structure but an old man gazing down at the cat in his arms, with such a tender look on his wrinkled face, it made Arthur smile slightly.

He wondered why, with the obvious talent she had, Ariadne had chosen architecture as her career choice. At a pause in her sketching her asked her this.

"Well," she said, tapping her pencil against her page, "while I love to draw and observe things in front of me, I always found it hard to create new creatures or people. Like the man I just drew already existed, my grandfather.

"But when I got into architecture I found that I could create the most weird and beautiful buildings or cities in my mind and on the page," she paused a moment, "Why would I settle for drawing things that already exist when I could create completely new designs?"

"Pure creation."

Ariadne nodded, "Not to the extent of dream sharing, but yes, in my eyes pure creation."

She looked down a moment as the conversation lapsed, and angled her pencil as if to begin sketching again when Arthur spoke up, "What are you drawing now?"

Ariadne looked from the Arthur to the page and back again, "Uh, nothing really. It's not finished anyway, can I show you another time?"

"I didn't ask to be showed," he stated leaning forward slightly.

Ariadne rolled her eyes, "Fine, it's you"

"Me?"

"Yes, you were just sitting there and I thought _hey, why not_?" This time when Arthur heard the sarcasm in her voice, he chuckled.

"What are you really drawing Ari?"

"Limbo," she said with a shrug as if the word meant nothing, betraying the fact that it was the complete opposite.

Arthur sat back swiftly, suddenly quite serious, "If I let you finish, will you let me look? I've never seen limbo before."

"Hopefully this will be the only time you ever do see it," Ariadne replied in an ominous voice that Arthur wasn't accustomed to.

He sat silently while she continued, quite content to observe. At one point Ariadne got up to get a glass of water, taking her drawing with her so that Arthur couldn't look. When he raised an eyebrow and asked "Don't you trust me?" She shook her head and replied in a teasing voice "No."

After a time Ariadne sighed and placed her last pencil, this one charcoal, back into its tin and rolled her shoulders, stretching stiffened muscles.

"Finished?" Arthur inquired.

She nodded and handed the sketch over to him upside down so that he wouldn't see until the last moment. When Arthur turned the pad over he was mesmerized by what he saw.

Ariadne had drawn an angled ocean shore that ran along the lower right of the page, which lead into a city without passing through a beach. The buildings at the shore were crumbled, dark masses in contrast to the structures behind them. Clouds obscured the sky. While limbo looked magnificent, Ariadne had poured her emotion into it; he could see her curiosity, excitement and fear throughout the drawing.

"It's amazing," Arthur finally said, still looking down at the paper.

"You can keep it if you want," he heard Ariadne say.

Arthur looked up, "Thank you and your right"

"About what?"

"About hoping that this will be the only time I see Limbo," he answered. Arthur was unsure about how to repay such a gift, for being the gentleman that he was, he wanted to give something back. An idea formed in his mind as he tore Ariadne's drawing from the pad and handed the sketching paper back to her.

After she had put away her things, Arthur asked "Ari, you seem a little stiff from all that drawing. Would you like a massage?"

She grinned, "I would like that very much"

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**Well, that's that then. Please R&R :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, I'm going to try and get this fiction finished before I go back to school, seeing as it's my last year I really want to focus. Thank you for all the wonderful comments, faves and watches. They're always encouraging me to keep writing. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception or any of its characters; I own my idea and writing.

**Day 3 **

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**Arthur P.O.V **

Arthur's nimble fingers played with a fray on the arm of his chair. He looked over to the sliver of window near the floor that the curtains didn't quite cover. It was still dark outside. He looked at the clock on his bedside table.

3:45am.

Arthur made a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a groan. His hand moved from the fray to re-adjust his tie, only to grasp at bare skin. He remembered that he was only in his pajama pants. Arthur's hand moved back to the chair arm and he began to lightly drum his fingers.

He couldn't sleep. He was too frustrated. While he had spent a lot of time with Ariadne at the warehouse at least there had been breaks. But now Arthur felt surrounded by her.

Her smell, her laugh, her smile and everything Ariadne.

He couldn't even escape her in sleep, tormented by the fact that she was one wall away from him. Arthur hadn't felt like this in a very long time. There was a girl once many years ago that bought out the same feelings from him, but that never worked out and from then on he had only been a part of small fleeting relationships. Mostly a few mutual one nighters, both parties got what they wanted and that was that.

But Arthur didn't want that with Ariadne, he wanted more and it frustrated him that she didn't seem to have the same feelings. Sure, he would understand if she didn't want to get into a romantic relationship, but the fact that she didn't seem to even want to deepen their friendship annoyed him greatly.

Arthur got up, sick of musing over things that he didn't understand. He was Arthur, the Point Man, he was supposed to know everything about everyone.

Slowly, he walked over to Ariadne's door. He wanted some answers and was determined to get them. It was as his hand hovered over the door handle that Arthur realized he was still bare chested. The poor woman was going to have enough of a fright waking up to him in her room without him having no shirt on. Swiftly he grabbed one of the rare t-shirts that was hiding in his suitcase and pulled it over himself.

Satisfied with his appearance, Arthur twisted the handle and, quietly as he could, opened the door. He was glad that he had been sitting up in the dark for so long, his eyes were well adjusted to the lack of light and he easily made it over to the large chair in the corner of the room. Arthur sat down looked about him, waiting patiently for Ariadne to wake up.

While he was desperate for answers, he was still too much of a gentleman to wake the sleeping form that was Ariadne.

For a while, she was faced away from him, but as soon as she rolled over Arthur took to studying her features to pass the time. This would have been quite a creepy situation to anyone else but Arthur was too concentrated on other things to think about that. Namely his questions, but the sleeping Ariadne helped to distract him somewhat as well.

Arthur looked at her face first, following the line of one perfectly curved eyebrow down to the flicking mound under her eyelid and he wondered what she was dreaming about. He then looked her nose for a time and wished that it was light enough for him to count her freckles. Then to her lips, the lips that Arthur had longed to kiss ever since that brief encounter in the dream.

He quickly moved his eyes away from them; they brought up too many feelings in him that he didn't have the time or real energy to deal with at that moment.

Soon he was following the curve of her pale neck down to the hollow of her throat and he quickly realized that although the top she was wearing would have been quite modest normally, the tossing and turning of sleep had pulled it down somewhat.

Arthur took it upon himself to flick his eyes back up to her face. While he had already intruded on her privacy; he refused to perve on Ariadne. Her top didn't actually go down that far but Arthur was a good man and had turned his mind to other things, well mostly.

* * *

It was 6:30 by Arthur's watch when he first noticed the sun peeking under the blinds. Almost immediately Ariadne made a yawning sound and gave a stretch. Arthur watched as she knocked over her totem, still oblivious to his presence in the room. It was when Ariadne slid a leg out from under the covers (intending to get up) and Arthur noticed that she wasn't wearing her pajama pants, that he cleared his throat.

The leg retracted speedily and Ariadne's head whipped around to where the noise had come from. The eyes of both persons met. For a moment neither said anything until Ariadne blurted out, "What are you doing here?"

"Good morning to you too," he said raising an eyebrow.

Ariadne shook her head, "No, not 'good morning'. Why are you in my room?"

"Well I couldn't sleep, and I had some questions for you, but you weren't awake so I sat here patiently till you woke up."

"Couldn't you have waited outside? I mean it's a bit freaky waking up to some man in the corner of your room." She was getting quite angry.

Wanting to avoid too much conflict Arthur apologized to her, "Sorry that I scared you, but I just wanted to talk as soon as you woke up."

Ariadne still looked as if she didn't believe him, "What questions?"

"What are you afraid of, Ari?" He began.

She looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Arthur sat back and laced his fingers together, "Well, I've noticed that you seem reluctant to let our relationship move forward."

Ariadne didn't say anything and by the strange face she was making Arthur realized what he had implied.

"Not in a romantic way (Oh how he wished), but even deepening our friendship," he amended.

She sat up properly in her bed for the first time and answered him, "Well it's easy for you," she pointed with a finger, "You've done this sort of thing before."

Now it was Arthur's turn to be confused, "I'm sorry?"

"You know what you can and can't do after a job. I was never really included in the discussions of where everyone was going to 'hide out' after inception. I always assumed that I was to stay in Paris and continue my life normally. But no, I forced Cobb to take me along and now I have no idea what I'm doing." With this she flung her arms in the air.

"I understand, Ari, and I can help with that. But if you don't mind me asking, how does this affect us?" Arthur tried to push as gently as he could.

Ariadne rolled her eyes, "Oh, Arthur, don't you see? I have no idea if me getting involved with you is going to get me killed or something."

Arthur smiled when she mentioned 'getting involved'. _So she does have an interest, _he thought.

"Ari, and please don't take offence, but you are very knew to this-" he gestured vaguely in the air, "-industry and you would be very hard for anyone to track because you're so unknown."

"But wouldn't I be easier to track if I'm with you?" Her voice sounded smaller.

"Possibly," he admitted, "But understand that I've been doing these jobs for a long time and I know many tricks and many people. I can keep you safe, Ariadne." He said the last part quite firmly.

Ariadne nodded and Arthur saw that she was beginning to crumble, "Have you ever been caught though?" she asked.

Arthur looked past her for a moment and succumbed to some memories that he would rather keep buried, "Yes. Once." He replied in a voice that was almost as small and quiet as Ariadne's had been not a moment before.

"But that was back when I was new, it was only after my second job. I would have been about a year or so younger than you I think."

Arthur felt Ari's eyes searching him, "What happened?" she asked.

He felt himself stiffen and he looked down at his interlaced hands, "I would rather talk about it some other time, I don't want to taint the morning with foul memories."

Ariadne's voice hardened slightly but not in an unkind way, "Arthur. If you want to further this relationship then you're going to have to open up."

"I know, and I will. But just not that way and not right now. Is that ok?" He asked, looking back at her and drinking in the concern that filled her eyes.

Ariadne smiled softly, "Yes."

Arthur got up and walked over to the bed, sitting down close to Ariadne, "Thank you." He said honestly, "And I'm really sorry about scaring you."

Ariadne looked up at him and did something curious, she said "Sometimes it's good to be scared." And with that she grasped his shirt and pulled his lips down to hers.

Arthur instantly felt a tingle up his spine and he snaked his right arm around her waist, smiling into Ari's lips as he realized again that she was only wearing her top and undies. She let out a moan as he bit at her lip and deepened the kiss, eventually granting Arthur's tongue entrance. This went on until Ariadne broke away for air, being the one with smaller lungs.

Arthur breathed heavily as he leaned his forehead against hers, "I guess I must ask. Ariadne would you like to go out some time?"

She smiled and replied with a definite, "Yes."

* * *

**I bet you're all thinking 'about damn time' :)**

**Can someone please tell me if 'chested' as in 'bare chested', is a word? I could swear it was, but my spell checker doesn't seem to like it. Anywho, please R&R and have a great day :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**I just have to say, you guys are the most awesome readers ever :3 **

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Inception and it's characters, but I don't. I only own my writing and ideas.

**Day 4 **

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**Arthur P.O.V **

Fingertips slid over smooth wood as Arthur pulled out a chair for Ariadne. She sat down and said, "You know, I like that about you."

"Like what about me?" he asked slightly distracted. Every time he glanced at Ariadne's lips he was reminded of the kiss they had shared the previous morning. While it had been wonderful, the rest of the day had been awkward to say the least, with neither party really knowing where to go. But it seemed that a nights sleep had helped them both, with Arthur smoothly asking if Ariadne wanted to go out to lunch at the café down the street.

This is where they currently were seated, waiting to order. "That you're so…gentlemanly," Ariadne replied, "You don't see that very often anymore."

"Well, I would guess that not many people grew up in the a same situation I did."

Ariadne raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what situation would that be?"

"My mother died when I was 4 and I was brought up by my father, he was…. somewhat strict and had many firm beliefs." Arthur explained.

"Like being a gentleman?"

Arthur nodded, "Along with a few other ideas that I refuse to imitate."

Ariadne didn't ask about these 'other ideas', which Arthur was glad of. Instead she said softly, "I'm sorry about your mother."

"Thank you, but I've been in acceptance for a long time now." In truth he didn't really remember his mother that well.

"I lost my father 4 years ago," Ariadne said quietly.

Arthur gave her a sympathetic look and was about to give his condolences when a waiter interrupted them. Ariadne ordered a cup of tea and a chocolate-chip muffin, while Arthur asked for a salad and water. When the man left, Ariadne spoke before Arthur could. "Though you probably already knew that, being a Point Man you must have a file or something on each of us."

Arthur nodded, "I won't lie, I did read up on you as was necessary with Yusuf as well. But all I read was basic history, the schools you've been too, if you had a criminal record, etcetera. I didn't know things like the fact that you prefer tea to coffee for example."

Ariadne smiled at his observance, "Well then, at least we'll have a bit to talk about. Though I have to tell you, it's been a while since I've done the whole 'dating' thing."

"It's been a while for me too." Arthur admitted.

For a while they chatted about simple things, asking each other semi-random questions like 'What's your favourite colour?', 'Cats or Dogs?' and 'How long ago was your last date?'. This went on until their orders arrived and they moved on to more personal inquires.

At one point, after a sip of tea, Ariadne asked Arthur how he got into dream sharing. Arthur, who had again been distracted by Ariadne's lips moving over the rim of her cup, took a moment to think of an answer. If Eames had been there, no doubt he would have made some comment about Arthur being a lovesick puppy.

"Well," he began, "Unlike architects, whose studies relate quite directly to their dreamscape jobs and as such are often picked up like you were, though not usually as young. Becoming a Point Man is more about whom you know and who knows you."

Ariadne smiled; apparently quite interested in any information she could glean about Arthur's past. "So who did you know?"

"A colleague at work actually, not one I knew particularly well. I was working in a simple office job, something to get me started after my short studies, and he approached me one day after work and told me he knew a man that was looking for someone like me." Arthur explained.

"Someone like you?"

"He needed someone who was good at reading people and finding out information about them," he elaborated, "And that man introduced me to dream sharing. He wasn't a good a boss as Cobb though, leaving me to fend for myself after only my second job."

Ariadne took a bite of her muffin, "So he fired you?"

"No, I still worked for him. When I say 'fend for myself' I meant he never showed me the appropriate ways to stay hidden after a job. I learnt that on my own, the hard way." Arthur tried to end that line of conversation there by eating some of his salad and avoiding Ariadne's concerned gaze.

She read him well and didn't ask for any more information, instead asking a new question. "What happened to the architect you had before me?"

"He betrayed us to Saito." Arthur said.

"Oh, so before this job you were extracting form Saito?" She looked quite surprised.

"Indeed. But apparently, even though we failed, Saito saw something in us that he needed and that's how we came to work for him." Arthur took a sip of water, "I never liked him much anyway."

"Your other architect?"

He nodded, "He was always looking out for himself and he was sloppy with his job too. I'm glad you replaced him."

Ariadne smiled and bit her bottom lip, "Well, I'm glad too. I can't think about living life without having experienced dream sharing."

"Yes, it is quite the experience."

They soon finished their lunch and made their way back to the hotel room, once inside Ariadne put down her bag and turned to Arthur. "Thanks for lunch, it was lovely."

Arthur replied with a, "You're welcome," while closing the door behind them.

But it was when Ariadne had a glass of water and licked the moisture off her lips that Arthur could contain himself no longer. He took a step forward and surprised Ari by planting his lips onto hers. After a moment she reached over and put her glass down, smiling into his kiss.

Arthur slipped his hands onto her waist, loving the curving feel under his palms and ran his tongue along her bottom lip. Ariadne let out a moan and granted him entrance while placing one hand on his chest and using the other one to play with the gelled-back hair around his neck.

They broke for air and Ariadne's fingers found their way under Arthur's shirt, tracing lines of fire around his back. This did unimaginable things to Arthur and with renewed energy he pulled Ariadne against him and captured her lips once more, though it was he who let out a moan this time when Ari nibbled at his bottom lip. It was when Arthur started to play with the hem of her shirt that Ariadne broke away and through small gasps for air demanded, "Bed. Now."

He of course was only too happy to comply.

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**Sorry it's so short. Please R&R :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**As I said before, I'm really trying to get this fiction finished before I have to get too much into school. So here goes for the next chapter :). **

Disclaimer: I don't own Inception or any of its characters. I only own my idea and writing.

**Day 4 **

* * *

**Ariadne P.O.V **

As she lost her grasp on her beautiful, warm sleep Ariadne came to realize that she wasn't in her own bed. It was a moment before she remembered anything and a sly smile slowly worked its way onto her lips. She clenched and unclenched her hands to make sure it was all real before she opened her eyes.

Main room.

She glanced down.

Naked. Arthur's bed.

She looked at the clock on the bedside table.

7:00pm.

She rolled over.

No Arthur.

For a moment her heart thumped in a panic, thinking that he had simply left her. But when she glanced at the clock again, Ariadne saw that there was a little folded piece of paper sitting on the table. She reached over and unfolded it. The writing read:

_Ari, _

_Gone to get us some food for dinner. _

_A. _

And there was a small, elegantly drawn elephant at the bottom of the note.

Ariadne let out a giggle and rolled her eyes. She had never known that Arthur could draw; it was defiantly going to be question when he got back. She read the note once more before placing it back on the table and sitting up. Even though no one was in the room, she still fumbled to keep the sheets covering her naked form.

Eventually Ariadne bothered herself enough to get up and grab her toiletries to have a shower. As she hung up a fresh towel she couldn't help but catch her reflection in the mirror. There were a few discoloured spots around her neck.

She smiled cheekily.

Ariadne showered quickly and wrapped her towel around herself. She made to collect her shampoo and other such items before deciding that she might as well leave them there.

It was as she was walking from the bathroom to her door, intending to get dressed, that Arthur walked in the front entrance. She started to walk again but he called out, "You know Ari, you don't have to hurry to get dressed."

She turned around, still grasping her towel around herself. "I know, but it's a bit cold and I was only going to get into my nightwear anyway."

Arthur nodded and put down the plastic bag he was carrying onto the table, "As you wish."

Ariadne proceeded to her room, but didn't bother to close the door.

Soon they had eaten and were sitting comfortably in front of the telly, idly watching the news. Arthur was on one of the couch chairs and Ariadne was sitting happily on the arm of his chair. When a set of advertisements came on Ariadne turned the volume down and Arthur apologized for leaving without telling her in person where he was going.

"It's fine, Arthur. You left me a note and I probably needed the sleep anyway." Ariadne assured him.

A satisfied expression found its way onto Arthur's face, "Tired you out did I?"

Ariadne's mouth formed an 'O' shape and she shoved him, "More like I tired you out!"

"Excuse me, but which one of us woke up first and got dinner?" He argued back playfully.

"Well, you hardly sleep anyway." Was Ariadne's lame comeback.

At this Arthur took the remote out of her grasp and turned the volume back up as the news came back on. Ariadne pouted and let out a surprised yelp as Arthur pulled her down onto his lap. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek but frowned when he didn't reciprocate in any form. She was about to ask what was wrong when she noticed that his attention was completely on the screen.

Ariadne turned to see what was so interesting and saw that a story had come on about two men at the local hospital who had miraculously woken up from comas. She let out a shaky breath, "Cobb and Saito?"

Arthur nodded and she didn't say anything more till the news had moved on to the next story. "We can't visit them can we?" She asked.

Arthur looked down at her with sadness in his eyes, "No, we can't."

Ariadne reached out a hand and cupped his cheek, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, we should be able to see Cobb eventually. Just not right now." He told her, placing his hand on top of her own. Ariadne's skin felt all tingly at the contact and she pulled away.

"So, I didn't know you could draw." She said in a questioning tone, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, I can't draw as well as you. You obviously have natural talent, where as I was simply sent to classes as a child."

"I think you have talent." Ari said.

Arthur smiled at the compliment, "Perhaps. But I don't have your imagination."

Ariadne shrugged and decided that she wouldn't try to further compliment him if he didn't want it. They sat in silence for a while, Arthur lazily running one hand up and down Ariadne's thigh. She broke the quiet.

"Can you tell me about that second job?"

"Ari-" He began to dismiss it.

She put a finger to his lips, "Arthur, please. I hardly know anything about you. Before the relationship goes further I need to know that you can share things with me and trust that I won't hurt you."

Arthur moved her had away but didn't say anything. "Don't you trust me?" She asked.

He stopped his thigh massaging and moved his hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. "I trust you more than you know, Ariadne."

"Then show it."

He sighed and started, "Fine. The job itself went well, it was in England, we got the information we had set out to get and I thought everything was great. When my boss was about to leave to take care of other business, I asked him where I was to go because the first time he had taken me with him and dropped me off state side. He said that I could do what I like and so I chose to stay in England for a while." Arthur shifted his position slightly and continued, "It was one of the most foolish decisions I've ever made."

"And?"

"The man we extracted from figured out what had happened and so one morning my hotel room door was knocked down by three men with balaclavas on. They put a bag over my head, knocked me out and drove me to some abandoned warehouse where such…horrible things happened." Arthur drummed at his temple with the fingers of his left hand.

Ariadne stood up and sat back down so that instead of being bridal style, she was sitting on his lap, facing him, with her legs clutched tightly on either side of his. She placed her hands on his chest. "What did they do?"

"They wanted to know who I worked for and when I wouldn't tell them straight up they gagged me so that I couldn't yell and then they tortured me. As soon as they removed the cloth tied around my mouth I told them and they knocked me unconscious again and I woke up back in my room." Arthur's hands had closed into fists.

"The scars on your back then, I saw them last night, where they…?" She trailed off.

He nodded, "Yes, that was where they were from."

Ariadne felt terrible but couldn't' think of anything to say except, "Sorry."

"It's alright, you can't change the past."

Ariadne shook her head, "No, I mean I'm sorry for making you tell me. I didn't realize it was that horrible and how it would make you feel."

His eyes flicked up to hers, "So, do you believe that I trust you now?"

This made Ari feel even worse, "Yes Arthur, I know you trust me."

"Good, that means we can get on with other things."

"What 'other things'?" Ariadne asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Things like this." And he grabbed her around the waist to pull her closer and planted his lips on hers.

Neither of them slept much that night.

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**Another little chapter that gives us a look into Arthur's past. Perhaps a look into Ariadne's next time? Please R&R.**


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